The Assassin
by Grim137
Summary: An assassin working for a deadly crime syndicate has targeted Varden as his next assignment. Will the assassin succeed or will Varden once again defy the odds against him?


(Takes place a few months after the comic ends.)

"This is great. I have that old noble moron eating out of the palm of my hand. All I had to do was 'save him from that evil bandit' and the fool hired me as his personal guard with full access to his house. I tell ya, I'm going to loot that rich bastard for all he's worth, and I couldn't 'ave done it without ya," exclaimed a loud, boisterous man before bursting into fit of laughter.

"Hehe, yeah. Glad I could help," responded a considerably smaller and more lithe looking male who couldn't have possibly been any older than seventeen years old.

The two men were members of a crime syndicate known through out Inverloch simply as _The Crows. _The first man was a bald and heavyset type of man. He looked to be about 35 years of age and contained numerous tattoos all over his thick body. His long brown beard and beady green eyes hid a mind that was dangerously sharp. The man's name was Dayton Vera and with numerous connections and more plans in his mind than even the most strategic general ever had on paper, it wasn't hard to realize why he was so valuable to The Crows. He made an amazing con artist as well as a mastermind for countless large-scale crimes that had helped make The Crows such an infamous gang.

The young man sitting across Dayton was much less infamous than the con artist but was nonetheless just as valuable to The Crows. The teenager's name was Jason Gnomic and standing at only 5'11" and weighing a measly 153lbs, the figure was hardly intimidating by any means. With blond hair, bright blue eyes and not but a few scars here and there, there just wasn't much that seemed very intimidating about the kid at all. Yet to those who were close with The Crows it was known that the kid was a dangerous assassin thanks to his skills with a bow, a few mind tricks taught to him by his friend and often mentor Dayton and the fact that his personality was often cold, uncaring, seemingly disconnected with the rest of the world.

Yet for now the two criminals simply continued to drink and laugh in the dank old musty bar in Rhyll called _The_ _Red Ox_. Both looked harmless at that moment, wearing nothing but the most basic cloths and carrying no weapons at that time. The fact that few guards really knew what any of the members of The Crows looked like and the ones that did were either paid off or 'convinced' by the syndicate to pretend they didn't.

After a few hours of drinking, smoking and talking the two friends and fellow criminals got up to leave but as they were exiting the bar another figure walked by and handed the one known as Jason a letter marked with the insignia of the syndicate (a crow holding a human eye in its beak).

"Well what does it say?" asked a now considerably drunk Dayton.

"It says I've got another job to do. This one is being sponsored by the mayor of Rhyll himself," responded Jason before taking a deep drag from the cigarette in his hand "and you'll never guess who the target is."

* * *

About 9 hours later on a cold frosty morning, Jason found himself walking along the hard, stone streets Rhyll. Before he could leave the city, before he could go hunting for human prey and before he could trade in somebody else's life for his own paycheck the young assassin needed a few things. Luckily one of the benefits of being a well-established member of a large crime syndicate was that it became very easy to find the black market shops, or fences, as they were called, hidden through out each city. Needless to say this made it much easier to get a few things, especially when those things weren't exactly what the normal vendors generally liked to sell. 

That morning Jason was wearing a large black and considerably worn cloak with nothing more than a white silk shirt and a pair of black canvas jeans underneath, yet it wasn't because of the cold that he wore the cloak, not by a long shot. A life of hardships had gotten him use to discomfort and pain so a little bit of chilly air did little more than annoy him. It was because was of what was hidden underneath the cloak. The assassin knew while crime may have been rampant in Rhyll when you carried a cross bow that with metal parts that had been painted so as not to reflect sunlight, a pouch contained numerous bolts for such a weapon, not to mention a dagger that had also been pained black for the very same reason as the cross bow then the guards tended to get a little suspicious particularly when those items were being carried by a seventeen year old kid in broad daylight.

It wasn't long, only a few minutes of walking to be precise, until Jason came to precisely the store he was looking for. It was an old rundown looking yet surprisingly large general store called _Ramos Supplies_.

The soft ringing of a bell announced the arrival of the blue-eyed assassin, as he made his way into the store. Though open the store was mostly empty save for the owner Jonathan Ramos due mostly to the early morning hours, which was before the majority of the cities inhabitants would awake from the previous night's slumber. This brought a smile to the face of Jason because it meant that they would be able to do business with out having to worry about which eaves dropping do-gooder heard them.

"Mornin' John, how's business been?" asked Jason merrily.

"Slow, but I'm getting by, you?"

"Same. Just not too many people The Crows want dead lately," responded the assassin in a casual tone that may have seemed shocking to some people, given the topic at hand.

"Well I suppose you managed to get another job since I doubt you're here to buy some groceries or anything?"

"How'd you guess? This new job comes straight from the old mayor himself."

"Oh really? Mind if I ask who fat Mayor Kingsley wants dead that he couldn't have his guards do it for him?" asked Ramos, clearly intrigued by Jason's answer.

"Have you ever heard of the infamous thief Varden?" replied Jason walking over behind Jonathan's little wooden counter.

Now the thing that made Jonathan Ramos such an interesting man to do business with was that nothing seemed to surprise him. After 40 plus years of buying and selling goods illegally to every type of criminal from lowly pick pockets to dangerous and well known assassins, Ramos had learned to expect everything. So instead of acting surprised or shocked by young Jason's he merely chuckled and said "Is that so? Damn shame if you ask me, but I guess business is business," as he unlocked the metal door behind the counter that led to the room where all his illegal merchandise was kept.

This time it was the assassin's turn to get intrigued. "Wait? Why do you say it's a damn shame?" asked the blond haired killer with great curiosity.

"Its nothing personal it's just that he was always a pretty good customer of mind. Got a lot of good merchandise from him, I did. Besides I heard rumors that he turned over a new leaf or something, settled down with a pretty little whage named Lila or Lei'ella or something. Hell I've even heard some rumors that he might be trying to start a family," responded Ramos.

"You might want to check you sources of information old man," responded the assassin with amusement.

"And just what makes you say that young 'un?"

"Well can you imagine it, the legendary thief Varden actually settling down with a women, and a whage for that matter? Besides with the bounty he's liable to have on his head, most women in their right mind would turn him in to the authorities," answered Jason as he followed Ramos through the door behind the counter and into the back, torch lit, storage room.

"You might be right, but you never know. After all I have witnessed stranger things than a thief getting married."

"Like what?"

"Like a seventeen year old assassin," responded Ramos jokingly.

"Huh, good point."


End file.
